National Security Leaders: Changes are Needed to Maintain Trust and Ensure Accountability in DHS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Anna Nix Kumar
akumar@monumentadvocacy.com

WASHINGTON – The Council on National Security and Immigration (CNSI) today released a statement on the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) current interior enforcement activities. CNSI is a group of nearly 50 national security and immigration policy experts who served during Republican Administrations as political or career officials at DHS, the State Department, Department of Commerce, and other federal agencies.

“We extend our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Any loss of life is a tragedy, and when it occurs in the context of law enforcement operations, it demands serious reflection.

“We are a group of national security leaders who have devoted our lives to protecting the American people and upholding the rule of law, and we are concerned how interior immigration enforcement is currently being conducted. For our nation to remain secure, the people must be able to maintain trust in federal law enforcement and in the government more broadly. When that trust is broken due to aggressive actions and escalatory tactics, our national security erodes, as does the fabric that weaves our union together.”

Several factors are converging to create the scenes we are witnessing in Minneapolis:

• DHS has reportedly placed extremely high quotas of 3,000 arrests a day, which is leading to enforcement actions and tactics that endanger the public and officers alike.

• ICE training for new hires has reportedly been reduced by half, from a minimum of 16 weeks to eight weeks, and immigration officers are not being properly prepared to conduct sensitive law enforcement operations in the interior.

• Officers are increasingly being tasked with duties outside their core mission and not consistent with their training and experience, through cross-designation into roles meant for other federal law enforcement agencies. CBP officers and agents are not trained to operate broadly in urban environments with high levels of civilian protest activity.

To restore trust in DHS, there must be accountability and transparency in how the department plans and executes its operations. Steps must be taken immediately to ensure that law enforcement operations meet the highest professional and legal standards, including:

• Full and independent investigations into any operations that result in collateral fatalities or serious injuries.

• Robust oversight exercised and respected by law enforcement agencies, including oversight from Congress, the judiciary, and offices within DHS and Department of Justice.

• At the operational level, mandating the use of body-worn cameras, prohibiting the use of face coverings, and requiring officers to clearly display identification.

• DHS must adhere to the law by entering homes only with warrants signed by a federal judge – not administrative warrants.

“Border security and interior enforcement are necessary and important components of a functioning immigration system. However, without immediate and meaningful corrective actions to change course at DHS and restore accountability at every level, the American people will not place trust in the institution. Failure to take corrective steps will inflict lasting harm to our national security and to the rule of law.”

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Leaders of CNSI speak and act solely in their individual capacities, and their views should not be attributed to any organization with which they are affiliated.

About CNSI: The Council on National Security and Immigration is a group of American national security leaders who believe immigration reforms are imperative to bolster and maintain the United States’ global leadership in the 21st century. Find out more here: www.cnsiusa.org